Obi-Wan Kenobi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hadthehighground) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thecooler2018-10-04 02:00 pm
hadthehighground) wrote in thecooler2018-10-04 02:00 pm
Entry tags:
The Scent of Lavender
Who: Obi-Wan Kenobi & You
What: Obi-Wan got a reward! With a very distinct smell.
When: Day 17
Where: Residential Area
Warnings: None atm.
The whole testing experience had been rather trying, and it wasn't just the test either. Anakin was getting more difficult to deal with, and his presence only seemed to make it worse. Despite the Sith Lord being sent to... wherever it was he want, his demeanor had not improved in the slightest.
Obi-Wan knew he was the main target of Anakin's rage, and someone else had gotten hurt trying to help him.
Thus after the testing was done, the Jedi decided to hole himself away in his room again. The man rarely being seen for a week aside for coming out to eat or use the fresher. And that was typically done when he knew Anakin, and probably most everyone else, was asleep. He spent the time in his room meditating for the most part. Rarely even logging into the network.
However, around the 15th or so, some might catch a whiff of a different smell. One that some might recognize as lavender.
Obi-Wan had discovered he's been gifted with a host of cleaning supplies, for personal hygiene and otherwise. He decided to first try some of the personal items. Thus there would be hints of lavender lingering in the men's bathroom due to the Jedi's late night excursions. Using the lavender shampoo, soap, even toothpaste.
However, on the 17th he will be seen in the common areas again at a decent hour. Though before he's seen, anyone coming into the room he's in will be hit with a wall of lavender odor that is exceptionally strong. Yep, he's back to cleaning, and using lavender scented products. Wiping down surfaces with cleaning solution, the bleach if its especially nasty, and so forth. It's really handy having these, but it seems there is a price to pay in one's nose being assaulted.
What: Obi-Wan got a reward! With a very distinct smell.
When: Day 17
Where: Residential Area
Warnings: None atm.
The whole testing experience had been rather trying, and it wasn't just the test either. Anakin was getting more difficult to deal with, and his presence only seemed to make it worse. Despite the Sith Lord being sent to... wherever it was he want, his demeanor had not improved in the slightest.
Obi-Wan knew he was the main target of Anakin's rage, and someone else had gotten hurt trying to help him.
Thus after the testing was done, the Jedi decided to hole himself away in his room again. The man rarely being seen for a week aside for coming out to eat or use the fresher. And that was typically done when he knew Anakin, and probably most everyone else, was asleep. He spent the time in his room meditating for the most part. Rarely even logging into the network.
However, around the 15th or so, some might catch a whiff of a different smell. One that some might recognize as lavender.
Obi-Wan had discovered he's been gifted with a host of cleaning supplies, for personal hygiene and otherwise. He decided to first try some of the personal items. Thus there would be hints of lavender lingering in the men's bathroom due to the Jedi's late night excursions. Using the lavender shampoo, soap, even toothpaste.
However, on the 17th he will be seen in the common areas again at a decent hour. Though before he's seen, anyone coming into the room he's in will be hit with a wall of lavender odor that is exceptionally strong. Yep, he's back to cleaning, and using lavender scented products. Wiping down surfaces with cleaning solution, the bleach if its especially nasty, and so forth. It's really handy having these, but it seems there is a price to pay in one's nose being assaulted.
Whaaaat? Why?
“I understand.”
He really did. There was a lot on his mind too.
He then looked down at the table after taking another bite of a ration bar.
“A card game?”
REASONS!1
And something about the way Obi-Wan said he understood sounded, well, achingly sincere. It was a long
"Not precisely."
He gestures toward the cards.
"Playing a traditional card game would be quite futile with the decks in the state they're in. Every single deck is missing multiple cards. Combining two would make effective randomization impossible."
He's suspected since he arrived that this was done on purpose. The incomplete decks, the board games missing tokens, the horrid, horrid rations? It didn't track with the level of resources a place like this would require. No, this was either to unbalance them or motivate them. Possibly both. Turn even their recreation from a source of stress relief into an added form of stress, and simultaneously force them to cooperate in order to earn anything better.
"Instead, I've managed to combine two decks into a reasonable facsimile of chess."
no subject
"Chess? How have you managed to do that?"
He knew the game, and knew how to play, but he'd never seen it done this way before. There isn't much to do here though, so getting creative is a must. Wesley has him curious now.
no subject
He gestures to the strangely arrayed cards on the table.
"As there's no need for the pieces to match, I was able to assemble the two sets using multiple decks. Red suits for white, black suits for black."
As he's speaking, he gestures to each side of the field, and now he points out the cards to demonstrate.
"Kings and queens are self-explanatory, of course. Jacks for knights, aces for bishops, tens for rooks. Numbered cards for the pawns, no particular need to differentiate."
He looks back to Obi-Wan and shrugs.
"It seemed far more productive than attempting solitaire with missing pieces."
This is the most animated his voice has been during the entire conversation, although it's still very quiet and tense. He clearly wasn't kidding about needing to take his mind off of things.
"I'll admit, I'm actually not much of a chess player."
no subject
"I'm not much either," the Jedi then admitted. "But if I'm not mistaken, you do need two people to play."
Is he offering to play? Yes, yes he is. Perhaps they both could use the distraction.
no subject
Wesley's not going to turn that down. It might be the first remotely enjoyable thing to happen since he got here, anyway. The people here were nice and all, but most of his conversations since he arrived had, by necessity, been about their situation.
It could be nice to just sit and play a mentally focused game.
So he takes the black and red queens- then frowns, realizing they're not from the same original deck, and swaps the mismatched black queen for a black king- and shuffles them a handful of times before offering them to Obi-Wan to pick one.
no subject
"Your move," he then says once they're both set up.
After all, a Jedi never attacks first.
no subject
Red, in this case, would have taken the place of white, but Obi-Wan had ceded the first-turn advantage. Wesley wasn't much of a player, but he understood the theory. And the implications. Fortunately, he wasn't a good enough chess player for the disconnect to throw him off.
Obi-Wan was an curious man already. Still, Wesley had no problem going along with it- perhaps he could ask about it after the fact.
"If you don't mind my asking," he asks, as he shifts his king's pawn forward two spaces, "what did you do before- well. This." He emphasizes 'This' with a gesture at their surroundings.
no subject
"It's a bit complicated," he admitted.
"Two weeks ago, I would have told that I was a general in a galactic war."
Which, as they continued to move pieces, may become a bit apparent. He wasn't a talented chess player, but he new strategy. And Obi-Wan would take a more defensive approach to the game as he often did in battle. Until the right moment when he could make a bold offensive move.
"But now things are different."
no subject
Wesley had heard of realms beyond the stars, but he had always imagined them to be more or less metaphysical in position, not a place you could actually hold interstellar warfare. Obi-Wan was clearly another native of a place very different from Wesley's own world.
Fascinating.
And unusual. Obi-Wan's playstyle seemed to be playing into a classic mistake of new players- overcaution. He avoided risks, didn't allow himself to lose pieces, even if it meant ceding control of the center.
"I must say, I've never been to space, and I'm certainly not a military man"
Not in a literal sense, anyway. He had often been engaged in battle against the forces of darkness, but he'd been either a lone agent or support in most cases.
"But I must say, I believe I can relate."
Against a more experienced player, Wesley suspected that the attempt at defensive play would fail- masters of the game could readily pick apart an overly timid player as much as an overly aggressive one.
Wesley was not a master. His initial response, when Obi-Wan began to play defensively and mount a line, was to push forward, risk pieces, attempt to bait him into breaking formation. But he didn't. He kept up the defense, refusing to capitalize on the opportunities Wesley would put in front of him.
"A researcher. First for a private investigation company, then for a law firm. But, like you, things changed quite drastically before I came here."
As Wesley's pieces controlled more and more of the field, Obi-Wan's defensive tactics didn't break. He didn't make any sloppy panic moves. In fact, he seemed quite controlled, despite the reactive retreating, despite not claiming Wesley's pieces when he had the opportunity.
Wesley wasn't a master, and so, no matter how he studied the board, he couldn't see whether or not Obi-Wan was setting a trap or just being too defensive for his own good.
no subject
"Well, my people were not meant to involved in wars. We were peacekeepers, and yet were put in that position."
He moved again, Wesley's aggressive tactic practically backing him up in a corner.
"It only aided in our own downfall."
And Wesley's growing overconfidence in the game might be his.
"I hope your change was more for the better than mine."
no subject
Obi-Wan hasn't set a trap. He's set a stalemate. One Wesley has to break by force if he hopes to eliminate it.
And that brings Wesley's play to a halt as he considers it.
"Well, the law firm was evil. In the literal and supernatural sense. Losing my position there would be a step up."
Wesley decides it'd be better to not mention the dying part if he doesn't have to. Or the fact that dying won't actually release him from the contracts Wolfram and Hart has over him. Just make the joke and move on.
Move on to this stalemate. He can take pawns, but whatever he uses will be sacrificed- and trading for pawns would be a losing proposition.
He'd have to set up a winning rally. So when he finally begins moving again, his movements are no longer aggressive. He begins spreading his pieces out, keeping only a scarce few pieces in advance to capitalize if his opponent tried to advance again.
"The cost of a moral victory, I suppose."
no subject
"I see. Moral victory can be very costly, but otherwise one could lose oneself."
That was a debate all in itself. However, Obi-Wan was the type to prefer taking the moral high ground as it were. Even if it meant making a sacrifice. Even if it brought himself a lot of pain.
Obi-Wan's eyes go back to the game, stroking his beard thoughtfully as he considers his opponents move. He followed along, spreading his pieces out more as well, but still keeping his best well guarded. He gets an idea though, and places a knight well within striking distance. A decoy perhaps? He hasn't sacrificed any pieces yet, and his opponent might expect it and thus consider it a mistake. Thus luring him into a careless move. Or he might suspect at much, ignoring it, allowing him to advance.